Quality Story

Quality is our top priority.

Vital Nutrients was founded with the mission to manufacture premium quality supplements. To accomplish this goal, we manufacture our products in our own strictly controlled facility following extensively monitored manufacturing processes. Our cutting-edge Quality Assurance program exceeds both industry and regulatory standards to ensure optimum potency and maximum freedom from environmental contaminants. Vital Nutrients is an FDA Inspected Facility. Our FDA Registration number is R11423196344.

The key components of our Quality Assurance program include:

Independent Lab Testing

Each ingredient and completed product is tested by independent labs that follow scientifically valid methods and ethical lab practices.

Every Batch Policy

While skip lot testing is standard procedure in the supplement industry, Vital Nutrients goes above and beyond, testing every batch of each material and completed product.

Comprehensive Specifications

Material specifications are based on thorough research of each material, its biomarkers and vulnerability to impurities.

While the details of our quality control program are extensive, the concept is simple, we are willing to take any steps necessary to provide consistent and clinically effective supplements to healthcare professionals worldwide.

Lab Testing

Comprehensive lab testing is the cornerstone of our Quality Assurance program. Vital Nutrients uses U.S. independent labs that are able to provide a higher level of experience and accuracy than an in-house lab.

Raw Material Testing

Identification, Authenticity and Potency

The identity and authenticity of each ingredient is verified through scientific test methods and potency markers are quantified to ensure the strength of the nutrient.

Microbiology

Each ingredient is tested for a microbiology panel that includes total aerobic bacterial count, yeast and mold counts, Salmonella species, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.

Chemical Solvent Residue

Many vitamins, minerals, amino acids and botanical products are manufactured using one or more chemicals or chemical solvents. We test each ingredient for 52 chemical solvents, using a test developed for compliance with USP 467, the pharmaceutical industry’s standard for solvent residues.

Heavy Metals

All botanical and fish oil products are tested for lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. Certain minerals and other vulnerable materials are also tested for lead.

Herbicide, Pesticide and Fungicide

Every botanical ingredient is tested for 310 herbicides, pesticides and fungicides, including organochlorines, organophosphates and organonitrogens, and pyrethroids.

Aflatoxin Residue

Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by certain fungi that are in or on foods and plant materials. Four different aflatoxins, B1, B2, G1 and G2, have been identified with B1 being the most toxic, carcinogenic and prevalent. We test every batch of each plant-based ingredient for all four aflatoxins.

Rancidity Markers

All oil based products are tested for primary oxidation by-products (peroxide levels) and secondary oxidation by-products (anisidine levels). A high level of either is indicative of rancidity of long chain fatty acids. We always test for both compounds since a low level of one compound can mask a high level of the other.

Dioxins & Dioxin-Like Compounds

Dioxin is a generic term used to describe a family of 210 compounds. We test all fish oil products for the most dangerous of this family -- the 17 members characterized by the presence of chlorine atoms in the 2, 3, 7, and 8 positions. Each of those 2, 3, 7, 8-substituted congeners has been assigned a Toxic Equivalent Factor (TEF), which is used for the computation of the Toxic Equivalency Quotient (TEQ). This scale is used in risk assessment studies to calculate the probability of causing cancer and other life threatening diseases in humans.

PCBs

Each fish oil is tested for PCB exposure with a parts-per-trillion assay method and very strict acceptance criteria. PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) are no longer produced in the United States, but are still found in the environment. Health effects that have been associated with exposure to PCBs include acne-like skin conditions in adults and neurobehavioral and immunological changes in children. PCBs are known to cause cancer in animals. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has concluded that PCBs are reasonably anticipated to be carcinogens. The EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have determined that PCBs are probably carcinogenic to humans.

Finished Product Testing

Label Claim Potency

All finished products are tested for potency to verify the label claim, ensuring the appropriate strength of each batch.

Microbiology Contamination

Not only do we test all of our raw materials for microbiology, we also test all of our products for a microbiology panel that includes total aerobic bacterial count, yeast and mold counts, Salmonella species, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.

Product Expiration Date & Stability Testing

We publish expiration dates based on third-party test data to support each expiration date. To authenticate this dating on an ongoing basis, we put our products through analytical and microbiological tests as well as visual inspections at multiple points throughout the shelf-life.